Hearing Voices
by Emo-Shukun
Summary: Toushirou has become unlucky. There is a presence lurking within him, dark and sinister. He kept to himself even though everyone could tell something was wrong. Ichigo could sense the Hollow within, and Yamamoto forces them to work things out, or else.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 01**

**Hearing Voices**

**Now—**

_There has been an echoing voice in my head—it was colder than Hyourinmaru, and more sinister…_

_"Hello, Hitsugaya-taichou…"_

Eyelids fluttered open to reveal tired turquoise hues due to the laughter in his head, the echoing laughter that appeared quite often during the day. It was as if something in the back of his mind was teasing him, as if to tell him that there was something wrong with him that no one could help him with. When his busty lieutenant talked to him, the laughter would sometimes interfere when he was trying to listen to her—in fact, this would happen when he talked to everyone. Everyone other than that arrogant, stubborn, tall orange-haired substitute Shinigami that would come bumbling into Soul Society quiet often now. Actually, that unofficial Shinigami was no longer an arrogant son of a bitch, that teenager was now a man who was very well respected in both worlds.

_"I want to kill you, Hitsugaya-taichou…"_

The war had ended ten years ago, and everyone was restored to their previous form; Kurosaki Ichigo had silently asked his female friend to heal their ligaments, and to restore an innocent lieutenant life for him.

A captain, such as Hitsugaya Toushirou—Captain of the Tenth Squad, would never admit being in debt.

_"You're so boring, Hitsugaya-taichou. Do something exciting for once."_ The voice told him with a trailing echo. Turquoise hues searched the room pointlessly as he already knew. _"There's Matsumoto's annoying zanpakutou, if you cut your hand with it, I'll leave you alone for the rest of the day, maybe."_ It laughed.

It sounded tempting to pick up the blade leaning against the wall of the administrative office, but surely he knew better than to subdue himself to listening towards voices. Laughter began echoing even louder as the voice called him a coward, but he had yet to budge from his seat, he decided to work on his reports instead. If his lieutenant had caught him falling asleep at the desk, he would have heard no end to it for the rest of his life, but the voice would never stop—he could hardly sleep. More laughter echoed through his head that led him to snap the writing utensil in his hand, causing blood to leak from his palm—

The laughter stopped…

There was a knock at the door, "it's me," without consent, an unofficial Shinigami in his human body entered, and peeked in. "Is Rangiku-san here—" he saw the blood. "What happened Toushirou?"  
"It's Hitsugaya-taichou," the captain sighed silently, tying to hide his anger. "I was lost in thought, I guess."  
"You _guess_?" His tall form came over and sat on top of the desk while carefully removing the brush from his hand. "What were you thinking of?" Cautiously, he removed any small pieces of wood he could see.  
Thinking about the laughter in his head, he shoved it aside. "It's none of your business Kurosaki."  
"Alright, alright," knowing the small captain could be defensive, he merely tended to his hand. Once the splinters were removed, he ripped his sleeve and wrapped the wounded hand with it. "You need sleep."  
"Why, do I have bags under my eyes? Or did someone put you up to the task of treating me?"

In his defense, he raised his hands. "I was told that Rangiku-san was looking for me. It didn't come to my mind that she would bail on her duties." He lifted the other's chin to look at his face. "You _do_ have bags—"

Toushirou slapped his hand away from his face before standing up from his seat. "If there is anyone that is going to tell me that something is wrong with me, it would be Unohana-taichou, not some _doctor_." It was a little harsh to say, but he still did not trust this man too much after all of these years knowing him. There was a look of disappointment on the orange-haired man's face as he softly shrugged at the small defensive captain, and began to leave. "Wait, Kurosaki I—" he bit his tongue as the other looked at him. With no words coming out, it felt like the voice quietly chuckled at the back of his mind. "I need sleep."

His hand paused at the sliding door. "You have couches right there, go ahead and lay down."

"I can't do that." The voice would haunt him in his sleep—haunt him once this man left. "I can't sleep."  
"Rangiku-san isn't here to bother you." In truth, he _knew_ why, but could not say a word about the problem.  
"Can…" Toushirou bit his tongue, refusing to ask him to stay until he fell asleep. "Can you leave already?"  
"Yes…" his expression saddened even more so. "Of course, I have others to check on too. See ya."

Once that man was gone, the voice returned. _"Glad that he's finally gone. I thought he would never go."_

"J-Jii-san," Toushirou heard the man call from outside the administrative office. "I was on my way to—"  
"Never mind that, I have an important task in which you are surely aware of." An elder demanded before the sliding door opened. "Good afternoon, Hitsugaya-taichou, may we both enter to have a few words?"  
"Of course," the small captain returned behind his desk."Is there anything that I can help you with?"

The old man did not seem to particularly happy to hear this from him, and glanced over at the unofficial Shinigami who obviously did not want any part in this. This was going to be something bad for sure if the Commanding-General was going to Kurosaki Ichigo for assistance of an important task. Then there was the need to insert the reason as to why the old codger needed to come here instead of summoning him.

"It is noticeable that you are lacking in rest, Hitsugaya-taichou." Yamamoto-Genryuusai Shigekuni stated quietly so the captain would not be offended. "You have made several careless mistakes on your reports these past five year, which I have forgiven, but recently it has become worse." His eyes were then shown to the two, but were directed towards the carrot top. "Kurosaki Ichigo, I would like you take Hitsugaya-taichou with you when you return to the living world. If I remember right, you live by yourself now?"

Ichigo frowned when being brought into the mess. "Yeah, but I don't live in Karakura Town anymore, I live about ten minutes away in Tokyo because of where I work." He knew what the old man was getting at.  
The small captain did too. "Yamamoto-soutaichou, please reconsider if you are suggesting that I spend time with Kurosaki." The last thing he needed was to leave everything in the hands of his lieutenant.  
"No, you would not have to." Shigekuni answered. "From here on, you will be assigned to Tokyo, under Kurosaki's care. You will be paid during your absence, however, only if you will remain there to rest."  
"Jii-san, I would have to decline on behalf, my presence would only irritate him further." Knowing that it was himself that would upset Toushirou all the more, he tried to avoid this. "Just give him a vacation."

"I am," he spat. "Until further notice, Hitsugaya-taichou will be in your care. He is to _rest_ as much as he possibly can." His head turned towards him to give him his attention. "I will remove your limiter as bonus."

_'He wouldn't be safe while I'm working though.'_ He sighed while nodded. "I understand…"

Unfortunately, Toushirou was in no position to be mouthing off to the Commanding-General, leading him with no choice but to place his life in the hands of Kurosaki Ichigo. A part of him was glad that this was happening to him—with the carrot top around all the time, then the voices in his head would not be there so often! However, his mind went back to 'limiter,' since when had this man been placed on one, and just how much was his powers reduced to for that matter? After a while, he could remember how the redhead lieutenant mentioning that this man was reduced to a mere one percent in his world, and twenty here.

Ichigo would never stop training anymore.

"Hitsugaya-taichou." Shigekuni called. "You both will go to Karakura Town to pick up your gigai, and then you will stay in Tokyo until Kurosaki Ichigo feels you are fit for returning to your post. Understood?"

Toushirou closed his eyes in defeat, "yes sir."

* * *

It had been six hours since they were told to stay in the same residence until further notice, and the carrot top glancing next to him to see the captain trying his best to not fall asleep on the train. They had to stop in Karakura Town to receive Toushirou's faux body when they arrived in the real world before the other had to suggest taking a train to get to the city since it would be faster than walking or taking a bus. Turquoise hues glanced up at the carrot top to see that he now had his eyes closed as if he were trying to fall asleep—or he was trying to tease his exhausted mind. That was, however, until a dull light emitted from the man's chest as if his limiter was being release, so he lowered his collar to check as it vanished.

The limiter was not in the shape of a flower, but a skull.

"Mama, look at that boy touching that man, is he his son?" A little five year-old boy asked across the train.  
The child's mother looked at the two and then at her son. "So it seems dear, mind your own business."  
_'There is no way in Hell I am even __**related**__ to this idiot.'_ Toushirou scowled at the mother and son.  
"That's why you don't touch others in a public place." Ichigo mumbled under his breath.

The pale hand retreated from the tall one's body slowly in order for it not to look like he was startled when he had practically jumped out of his faux body. He should have known that this man would not have fallen asleep so quickly—they were only in the train for three minutes or so, and would be in it for another two. It then came across his mind that he was tricked into touching him for whatever reason, and he was not going to standby to let him slide with this. His mouth opened to say something until Ichigo's cell phone began to ring so he had to close his mouth to let the other check the call.

"Yes, this is Kurosaki." The carrot top spoke professionally. "I'm on a train returning to Tokyo, I should be back soon. Is there something I can help you with?" Toushirou was watching him, surprised at the tone he was hearing from him. "Ah, yes, that case… I gave a prescription to the woman yesterday for her pain." It was amazing that he could sound mature after all of these years. "Yes, thank you for the clarification."

Ichigo ended the phone call before rubbing his face.

"Who was that?" He did not care—his lieutenant was rubbing off on him though.  
"My assistant," the carrot top replied. "Wanted to make sure I gave a patient some medication."  
"Does your _assistant_ always call you? It seems it would be a bit annoying to be bothered during the day."  
"I can't send a Hell Butterfly to Mitsu." Ichigo whispered quietly. "Besides, that pretty face makes it okay."  
Not sure if this 'Mitsu' was a male or female nurse, he rolled his eyes. "You are troublesome."  
"As true as that may be," he stood up, grinning cockily. "Who's in charge, huh?"

If he was not so tired, Toushirou would kick him.

Once the speaker announced for them to leave through the doors for the Tokyo departure, the captain had no choice but to follow the tall one off the train. The captain was not exactly 'small' anymore, but compared to Ichigo and many others, he was still quite short—just an inch taller than Momo. However, Ichigo had a serious growth in height and was a few good inches taller than Abarai Renji, and his form was more muscled than it was ten years ago. It was scary that this man who fought hard to protect two worlds, that he would have decided to become a doctor, a healer of the wounded.

"Here we are." The man stopped in front of a restaurant—a very _fancy_ restaurant at that.  
Turquoise hues turned to him, glaring. "Are you telling me that you live in a food place."  
"It is called a restaurant, and no, above it actually," he placed a hand on the other's back.

Not realizing that he was being motioned towards the double doors that were opened for them as a man hurried to them with a bow. He handed Ichigo some weird menu in which he looked at before returning it and saying that he would not be ordering something tonight. The man then looked at Toushirou curiously, wondering if he was some abused child that would be taken care of, but it was corrected… somewhat. It seemed that Hitsugaya Toushirou was going to be a _patient_ who had a bad attitude towards everyone. A laugh filled the air while announcing how brave Ichigo was, rather, 'Kurosaki-sensei' as the man had said.

"Anyway, I will be upstairs, we would like to be alone tonight if you don't mind." Ichigo pressed the small of the captain's back, and guided him to the elevator. "We will have dinner and go to sleep early tonight."  
"Of course Kurosaki-sensei, I'll keep the others on this floor and to not disturb you and your guest." The man bowed to the two once more before turning away to leave. "Have a good day sir, and young guest."  
"We thank you, and be sure to remember his face. If he comes down for any reason, please see to it that you help him with anything." Ichigo entered the elevator. "Come on Toushirou, you need your rest now."  
After stepping into the elevator where Ichigo had stopped guiding him, he sighed once the doors closed. "How many times do I have to tell you to call me Hitsugaya-taichou? It had become old ten years ago."

"I'm not entitled to address you by any title. You scratch my back, and I scratch yours. Furthermore, do you trust me?" The sudden tone in his voice startled the dozing captain, so he continued. "Do you even trust anyone within Soul Society, enough to tell them that you are _not_ fine? You've been lying to us all."

"What is going on—who are you to talk to me like this! Who I trust is none of your business, Kurosaki!"  
"Jii-san is giving me too much credit, thinking I can get through to you." Ichigo grabbed his collar harshly.  
"L-Let go—K-Kurosaki!" He began to notice that he had _no_ power whatsoever. "What did you do to me!"  
Chocolate brown hues stared at him fiercely. "I will give you _three_ days to tell me what's wrong with you."  
"There's nothing wrong with me you idiot! Now put me down—" his body was shoved against the door.

It opened after several floors, and Ichigo threw him out of the elevator. "For the past five years, something has been bothering you. Recently now, it has been practically eating at you." The captain only glared at him from his spot on the carpet. "I already know what is wrong with you, and made a few little demands while you were explaining things to Rangiku-san." He watched him search his pockets, but Ichigo knew what he was looking for, and brought out his cell phone. "I ordered Jii-san to place you on a full limiter while I'm unlimited, and while you were being questioned by Yoruichi-san, I told Urahara-san to adjust your faux body. Now you are just as useless as a human… sucks, doesn't it?" Furious turquoise hues ripped away from his glare to search for something. "Don't bother," he showed the green pill. "I have it."

Not even ten minutes ago, Hitsugaya Toushirou was admiring this man for being mature and respected by others, but suddenly he becomes a monster? If everything that he was saying was true, then it meant that there was no way that the captain could defend himself if Ichigo became violent and attacked him. A thought then occurred to him; did this man say that he _knew_ what was wrong with him—did he know about the voice in his head? Something lingered on his mind a little more… something about trusting him, so did that mean that this was supposed to be some sort of test against him.

"Listen to me, Toushirou." The carrot top called softly. "For these three days, I will stay home with you to make sure you can rest. You have three days to tell me, in your words, what's wrong with you. I will have to stay here until you _do_ tell me, but there are lives at stake Toushirou. There are people out there, they are sick, and they are dying, and they need me as much as you do." Gently, he offered a hand to help him up from the floor. "All I ask, is for you to tell me the truth as soon as you feel like it, understood?"

"Kurosaki…" the way he was saying it was just like before.

"You don't have to suffer alone," he reminded him from ten years ago. "You don't have to carry the burden by yourself either." Weakly, Ichigo smiled. "I'll ask again like years ago—let your friends take some of your pain, and the resolve that goes with it." He was stared at. "Don't make me punch you."  
Toushirou looked away submissively. "You don't know what I'm going through, this is different."  
"You're still trying to carrying everything on your own, not caring about Rangiku-san or Momo who are worried sick about you." Tired of waiting for his hand, Ichigo hoisted him up by his arm. "A taichou has to protect their subordinates, fine, but who do you think protects a taichou? We would give our lives to s—"  
"Nobody is telling you to waste your life on me—" He was then punched in the face, and went down.  
"Did I _ask_ you to help me fight Aizen? You all would've sacrificed your lives for my behalf to save the world from Hell." It was amazing that Ichigo was keeping himself under control despite punching the other in the face. "It's what friends do, we protect each other. I protect you, and everyone else, no matter what."

The captain wiped his face, looking away as he lied stubbornly. "There's nothing wrong with me."

Ichigo watched him for a few minutes as the other stayed on the floor in case he would be punched again for whatever reason that could be thought of. A few more minutes later, the carrot top began to walk forth towards the door five feet away, and unlocked the door with a key and left it open for the captain. It did not take long for the small one to follow him into the…wait, this could _not_ be an apartment, and he knew they were a _lot_ smaller than this. Ichigo casually removed his coat to place in the closet without paying any attention to the other who was being troublesome, then pressed a button on a machine on the table.

_"Kurosaki-sensei! Why didn't you tell us that you were taking three days off suddenly? You can't do this to us—there's a board meeting today remember? What in the world could possibly be more important?"  
"Who said you could take three days off by claiming you're sick, huh? You sneaky bastard! If you're out of the town for some girls, you better hook me up with—"_ Ichigo skipped the second message.  
_"KUROSAKI-SENSEI, HOW CAN YOU DO THIS TO MITSU? MITSU IS VERY SAD THAT YOU DID NOT SAY ANYTHING TO MITSU WHEN WE WERE ON THE PHONE MINUTES AGO! YOU—"_

Ichigo ended the messages for the sake of his sanity.

He picked up the home phone and dialed a number, getting an instant reply. "Ah, Yoshirou-san, I'm glad you are taking my call. For your information, I'm not running around with girls, I assure you." By pressing a button and putting the phone on the receiver, the man was now on speaker as he took his shoes off.  
_"Sure you aren't, you sneak. Anyway, good news, the girl that was suffering from abandonment, she's doing a lot better since your session with her. Honestly, how do you do it? She would not even __**speak**__ to us for five weeks, and then you give it a shot, now all of a sudden she's helping us find the man!"_  
"Don't give it too much thought, the last young woman I helped has yet to recover from her problems." He wiped his face, trying not to think about it, but explained. "The girl's family members are very protective of her, and you know how I am when even one person doesn't cooperate with me, right? How's yours?"  
_"Well, I'm glad you asked since __**all**__ of you patience are under __**my**__ care, their doing great! Actually… no, that's a lie. That one boy of yours, he's not responding well to us—we really need you here to help with his progress, he's terrified we'll do something to him. It's not like we can keep him on sedatives all day."_  
"I know, and I apologize for the inconvenience this is causing, but… I have issues of my own right now. Until they are dealt with, he will have to rely on you and the nurses. Mitsu should be able to help you." He could feel Toushirou looking at him once getting both shoes off. "I'll be back at the hospital when I can."  
_"Hey now, I am in no position to be complaining Kurosaki-senpai. You have __**never**__ taken time off to do anything for yourself. I will keep you updated with the patients by leaving messages instead of calling you. So… get your act straightened up, and get back to work where we all need you! Seriously!"_

"Goodbye Yoshirou-san," Ichigo ended the call.

"Y-You're going to sacrifice _lives_ until I talk?" Toushirou now knew this man was psychotic.  
"No," he looked at him. "I am going to stay here until you talk, don't let a human die because of you."  
"I-I'm not the one playing with lives!" His hand pointed to the door. "Get out of here and help them all!"  
His head shook at him. "You have no reiatsu so that you will not kill yourself if I'm not looking."

The captain choked on a laugh. "Are you assuming that I would kill myself?"  
"Almost killed M—" he withdrew the sentence. "Toushirou, I am protecting you."  
"What happened with Hinamori was not my fault! I didn't know it was her! I was—"  
"It doesn't matter now, does it?" Ichigo sighed. "She's alive, and her memory is gone."

This calmed down the little captain, who quietly muttered. "I will be forever grateful to you for asking Inoue Orihime to revive her, and to you for removing that last minute when I…" His eyes tightly clamped shut.  
"What are you talking about Toushirou? I was the biggest pond in all of that mess." Ichigo tiredly sighed as he closed the front door. "Anyway, enough about the past. This is my penthouse, use it how you want."  
"A penthouse?" Toushirou looked at the ridiculously large residence, and it was surprisingly clean too.  
"It's an apartment that is located on the top floors of a building, and in this case, atop of a restaurant."  
"I wouldn't think that a human like yourself could afford such a high-class residence." He took in a deep breath through his nose, and exhaled the same way; he was _really_ tired now. "Perhaps a quick tour?"  
Knowing what he wanted, he skipped the tour. "For your own safety, I will have you take the guest room next to the Master bedroom where I sleep." Ichigo turned around the corner to a door. "This is your room."

Toushirou watched the man take a step back to give him space, allowing him to come over and open the door to know only _one_ thing: he did _not_ want to sleep on the roof. There was enough space in here for who knew how many people; the bed was two times the size of his futon in Soul Society—this was truly ridiculous. Ichigo nudged him inside the room to look around and investigate, which the captain did ever so slowly because he just wanted to jump on the bed since it was there.

"Judging by your stubborn pride, you will be here for at least two months. After you're well rested, we can go pick you up some clothes." He quietly grabbed the handle on the door. "Go ahead and sleep, I will wake you when dinner is ready. Would you like something in particular to eat tonight, Toushirou?"

He was so confused, and he turned to him. "Why are you doing this for me?"

"I could lie to you by saying that it was because I was ordered to, and the pay doesn't hurt either." His soft eyes went over to look at him. "I could be realistic and say that it's in my nature to help someone who's in need of it, desperate or otherwise." He caught glimpse of the rebellious look. "Whether you remember it or not, whether you admit it or not, you and I have a little history—we were friends, and we still are."

"Why do you keep saying that you are protecting me then? I can protect myself." He became defensive.  
Ichigo smiled weakly at this now. "Yes… you _can_ protect yourself, but you know you _can't_, not from _this_."  
"What are you trying to say, Kurosaki?" Something clicked in his mind. "And it's Hitsugaya-taichou!"

Giving up, he confessed. "With your power limited to _nothing_, and my power is unlimited. My reiatsu will be more affective to keep that voice in your head quiet. _That's_ why I'm having you in the guest room next to mine." This was what he did not want to see; fear and shock in his eyes. "I have a better control of my reiatsu now, so you have to let me know when I should increase it for you. I'm not the enemy Toushirou."

H-How did Kurosaki Ichigo know about the voice?

* * *

A/N: I have a lot of stories to catch up on right now, so I don't know when the next update will be.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 02**

**Hearing Voices**

**Now—**

"What are you doing here?" A voice stirred the little captain from his sleep, it sounded like his host. "If he wakes up to find you here, he might assume that you're here to check on him. I can't have him thinking that I'm not trying to help him." Yeah… that was Ichigo's voice all right, and he sat up slowly to check.

_"Don't go in there,"_ the voice echoed in an unpleasant tone. _"It's annoying how he puts me in submission."_  
"Submission?" He knew looking around was pointless, so he tried to think about it. "What is going on…?"  
_"He's controlling your mind—trying to manipulate you. Careful, he might have you in contempt forever."_  
Toushirou winced at the words and got up to enter the other room—to see Abarai Renji. "What is this?"

Ichigo looked at him, and then at the redhead to see him back off to give them room to talk about what was going on right now. He came to him casually while explaining that the lieutenant was here to come harass him, and that it had nothing to do with the little captain. After stirring awake to what Ichigo was telling Renji earlier, he had to assume that he was telling the truth; Ichigo would not lie to him. Renji on the other hand seemed a little annoyed by the two talking, so he went storming upstairs to the next floor. This was becoming difficult for the host as the other sudden guest was having a fit, so he turned all of his attention back to the little captain.

"Is there anything you would like to eat? I can make something for you, or you can order something from the restaurant downstairs." There was a loud crash upstairs, causing Ichigo so sigh. "I'll be right back, if he breaks something again for being jealous, I'll break my foot in his behind. Will you be alright?"

"Do I look like a—" never mind that. He headed towards the exit. "I'll go down to the restaurant then."  
"I'll check up on you in a bit then." With that said, Ichigo went upstairs to check on the other guest.  
"Wait, I—" the captain hesitated, and was out of hearing range. He wanted to ask about the voice.  
_"Face it, he never cared about—"_ The voice was stopped when Ichigo's reiatsu flared enormously.

_'So it's true…'_ Toushirou now began to notice this himself thankfully. _'Kurosaki's keeping it in check.'_

* * *

_"See, he didn't even check on you. He's just saying that he cares. That bastard King…"_

_'King.'_ Toushirou thought as he opened the door to the penthouse, and stared at the scene.

There sprawled out while sitting on the couch was the host. His shirt was half-unbuttoned, a pair of glasses at the tip of his nose… this man was completely exhausted for some reason. The redhead then appeared from the kitchen with a finger to lips in order to have him keep quiet as he brought a cup over to the carrot top. Toushirou stood there and watched as the other guest came over to the host's side, softly rubbing his shoulder to wake up, which he did. Almost jumping out of his skin, Ichigo immediately sat up straight with a jolt, looking around to find out if something was wrong or not. All seemed to be just fine, it allowed him time to settle down and look at the lieutenant who was offering him a nice cup of hot tea.

"Sorry that I came by unannounced, I wanted to make sure you two didn't kill each other." Renji stated.  
"Thank you," the host whispered as he took the cup. "I apologize for falling asleep on you so suddenly."  
"Don't worry about it. Knowing you, you stayed up all night flaring your reiatsu while doing paperwork."  
He chuckled quietly as he sipped the tea. "Unlike you, I'm not a dog on a leash, but a bird in a cage."

Hearing this, the redhead came over to sit on the coffee table in front of him, rubbing one of his legs as a sign of comforting him. "Birds have weak hearts though, right? You've suffered a lot more than you have ever needed to." Remembering that the captain was right there, he patted his leg instead of rubbing it.  
"The past is what made us who we are, be it stubborn, scared, stronger, or weaker. Point is, we all had gained something from it, and it isn't something that we should dwell on." He tried to shift, but winced.  
"See, you _are_ over working your body, Hitsugaya-taichou can take care of himself for a few hours. You need to sleep a little too!" Renji _knew_ he would object though. "Why are you being so protective of him?"  
"Stop being so jealous, Toushirou is a friend of mine as well. You don't know what it's like to be on death row Renji." The carrot top finished the tea, and tried to get up again, but failed. "Useless human body, I can't believe it needs to adjust to my reiatsu all over again." He looked over. "Toushirou, are you okay?"

"Yes," the captain replied. "I would like to ask you a question in private if you don't mind." He watched the two exchange looks, and the redhead went upstairs. "If I said a word—a title in fact, would you explain?"  
"That all depends on if I can understand it or not. Is it another human thing that you don't know about?"  
"No, it's nothing like that I don't think." He began to glare at him. "I _admit_, there is a voice in my head, but that voice called you by something I never would." His eyelids shut softly. "I don't know if it's relevant."  
Ichigo frowned at him, "perhaps you should sit down before you talk about it." He motioned him over—

"King," turquoise hues watched the man freeze. "That's what the voice had called you… so, why is that?"

"Toushirou…" he forced himself to stiffly stand up. "There is something I need to tell you."  
"Does this have to do with the voice in my head?" The other nodded. "Is it something bad?"  
"You're… like me… and the others." his eyes closed with a frown. "Show yourself this instant."  
Ichigo's Hollow appeared, grinning. "It only took a day for the chibi-taichou to confess to you."  
"Leave Hyourinmaru alone, bring me Toushirou's Hollow, now." He barked sternly towards it.  
"Yeah, yeah, God you're so cranky, I love it." The creature grabbed Toushirou's head. "Wake up."  
"L-Let go of me—" Toushirou realized that he was not grabbed, and something was pulled out of him.

"Finally I'm out of that icy Hell." The new creature, obviously Toushirou's Hollow, glared. "Hello King."  
Ichigo glared in return, "it's a good thing that you already know your place in society, Hollow."  
"Keh, I can kill you if I wanted." It summoned Hyourinmaru to his hands. "Just watch—"  
Ichigo's Hollow then appeared in front of it, slapping it across its face. "Shut up."  
"Be gentle, Hollow or not, he's a part of Toushirou." The carrot top warned.

It turned to look at him, "you can't protect chibi-taichou forever, King. The shrimp still has a lot of growing to do, there's no way he can dominate his Hollow." All attention drew to the little captain. "I mean _look_ at him, his pretty little face makes me want to break him. Hey King, you want to protect him, right? Can I—"

"No." Ichigo answered immediately, and looked at Toushirou. "That creature to your side, is your Hollow. It is another power of yours that Aizen had embedded in you during the war. You were the only one going through a fit of rage, hatching your Hollow basically." He crossed his arms, and the two vanished from their sight. "Toushirou, you have two choices: defeat it and take its power, or let it consume you."

"It's Hitsugaya-taichou." The small one stated. "Do you mean, I have to be… like you?"  
"Not like me, you can _never_ be like me." He then corrected. "You will be a Vizard though."  
"No, I won't except either choices. I have survived it this far without having to deal with it."  
"I'm trying to help you, you're losing more sanity each year because you're maturing."  
"Perhaps resorting to final options is your way, but not mine. I am a taichou of Soul Society."  
"So I'm reminded," Ichigo mumbled sarcastically, and sighed. "You can't use bankai anymore."  
"Of course I can you idiot, I am a taichou." However, Ichigo had the needed energy to fight back.

"The goal of an inner Hollow is to make the host vulnerable so it can consume you. Straining yourself into bankai makes it that much easier to get you." Ichigo could still see the fight in Toushirou's eyes. "Fine, I can't force you to believe me, I gave you more credit than I should have, perhaps Momo will die, again."

"Shut your mouth Kurosaki!" The captain yelled furiously for hearing this.

"No, I won't." He was still calm, and in control—he has be through the entire time; never yelling. "You do everything you can to protect Momo. Why aren't you taking this seriously? It will cost her life if you take it too lightly. I killed someone because I was engulfed by my Hollow after dying for a second or third time."

His attention drew elsewhere. "I will _never_ harm her, _ever_ again."

Ichigo stared at him, and then walked away. "So be it, you know now that it is your inner Hollow, and that it will take over when you are at the brink of death." He sat back down on the couch, staring at the floor. "I can't help someone who doesn't want it. I have patients that _want_ my attention, I have no time for this."

Hearing this, he turned to leave, but hesitated. "Why did you want to help me?"

"Because whether you thought so or not, I have always considered us as friends." His eyes closed for the moment as if trying to recuperate. "Renji…" He called tiredly. "I've declined your offer, please leave now."  
"No." The redhead answered firmly, and it was the wrong answer, which Ichigo shook his head to.  
"Tou—Hitsugaya-taichou," Ichigo stood up as he undid his cufflinks. "I apologize, but may you please go to your room for the minute. There is something I would like to discuss with Renji about for the moment."

Toushirou was going to snap a reply back at him, but he was called by his title, allowing him to over think the moment and allow him his demand. It was a shame though that he was not too sure that it was the best thing for him to leave Renji alone to defend himself right now. Ichigo had a stern look in his chocolate brown hues, his positioning signified pure dominance, and his voice made him seem threatening. There was nothing the little captain could do about it though; they were the only ones who could fix their issue—

"Do not disrespect me in my home, Renji." Ichigo's tone was loud unintentionally, but serious on purpose.  
The other scoffed at him in turn. "What about Hitsugaya-taichou? I bet he's been treating you like trash!"  
"His situation is far more delicate than you realize, and if he wants to leave, then I have to let him do so."  
"So you're willing to let him screw up your mission? His orders were to listen to you!" His blood boiled.

"Toushirou has little trust in me despite knowing each other for ten years, fighting side by side on some rare occasions. Even so, I will not break that little trust. If he believes that I can't help him, I won't force him to stay—every Shinigami officer is a dog on a leash, given to the same Master. I will _not_ place him on a leash of my own and muzzle him." Ichigo needed to remain calm, but he was losing the battle ever so slowly with this discussion now. "Listen, I understand that you believe that your position in my life is in danger, but it's not. Furthermore, it should be Byakuya that you are worried about, not me, and most certainly not Toushirou. So please, get out of my place, and go back to Soul Society before I get angry."

"That's because I'm angry enough for you! You had no one there to support you when you were at this stage of Hollowfication, and yet Hitsugaya-taichou does, but he's taking it for granted!" Renji was trying to mentally strangle the air to try calming him down, oblivious to kindling the fire. "He goes on and on about being a taichou when he can't even admit when he has a problem! Why don't you shove it in his face t—!"

"Because I can't!" Through his blind rage of yelling, he had slammed a fist into the cup on the table. "How many times do I have to tell you this? I _**will not**_ force Toushirou to do something he does not want to do!"

Startled by the yelling of the normally calm male, Renji fled the penthouse and left.

It only angered Ichigo more now that he had scared off a good friend of his, but it did not help as he went into the kitchen to shove it out of his mind. The broken glass pieces became snug into his fist despite not realizing it, and so he eventually sat down to control himself before going insane. Eventually, he felt his hand throbbing enough to let him know it needed attention, leading him to take out the pieces the best he could. With his mind occupied and his attention distracted, Ichigo did not realize that Toushirou had come out of the room to stand quietly in front of him until noticed.

"Kurosaki…" the little captain spoke softly. "I apologize for being rude."

Ichigo's brows furrowed before looking up at him, "you have nothing to apologize for. Unfortunately, I'm the one who should apologize for having you hear my yelling towards Renji." He stood up ever so slowly.  
"Abarai was correct, as were you." Turquoise hues stared at the kitchen floor. "I should not be disobeying orders from soutaichou, and I should not be disrespecting my host—" A tall form then towered over him.  
A callused hand gently trailed the pale one's small jaw line to his chin, raising his attention towards him as he spoke. "Don't lower your head to anyone, host or not. You shouldn't have to restrain being yourself."  
He stared into his eyes, noticing that this was not the man that he once knew. "You… you've change a lot since the war, haven't you?" His hand lowered the other's hand from his face. "You're less idiotic now."

"Hey," Ichigo called in a soft warning tone. "No matter what, I will always be me, and you will always be you." He placed his bloody hand against the sink to clean it. "The years pass quickly for humans, so I have no choice but to grow up, but now everyone depends on me even more." His good hand turned off the faucet and dried his hand with a paper towel. "I should confess to something since I do not want to start lying to you. My reason to agreeing with Jii-san was selfish—working day and night at the hospital, taking frequent breaks to clean up messes as a Shinigami. I knew that if I helped you, I could rest a little."

Hearing the confession had his eyes roll. "You need a life Kurosaki."  
"Every time I try to, what do you think gets in the way?" He chuckled.  
Oh, that was right. "I'm sorry, I didn't think." Old man pushed him too.  
"Do _not_ apologize to anyone but your friends, it's a sign of weakness."

As Ichigo began to walk away towards the bedroom, probably to dress his hand in bandages, but the little captain turned towards him. "Kurosaki," he called, and the man looked at him. "I'm sorry." There, for the first time, Toushirou watched as his host finally gave a genuine smile in return before going in his room.

In a way, the little captain admitted silently, that they may be friends…

* * *

"Sorry for not checking on you, Renji made a mess upstairs that I had to clean up." The host explained softly while digging politely into the food; beef teriyaki, rice, some random steamed vegetables, and slices watermelon. "I hope the… voice, had not caused you any trouble, you seemed irritated coming back in."

"You don't have to check on me, Kurosaki. If anything, the waiters and waitresses would constantly come and ask if there was anything I needed." He reached out for a slice of watermelon. "The voice, I heard."  
"It's hard to raise my reiatsu high enough for you to feel without having Renji suffer the consequences." Ichigo watched him nibble on the slice. "You don't have to show any respect by being polite, dig in."  
"I am a taichou, and as such, have to be dignified." To prove so, he took another nibble of the watermelon that caused Ichigo to hum with interest. "As for your reiatsu, your human body needs to adjust to it again."  
"Are we showing concern for others, Toushirou?" As the captain opened his mouth to correct him, he spoke again. "It's true you set an example for the others around you, but you're not in Soul Society now."  
This caused him to glare suspiciously while the other began to drink his tea, "are you trying to 'play me' as humans call it?" Suddenly, the host choked on the tea, swallowed, and choked even more. "What is it?"  
Ichigo began to laugh innocently and choke harshly at the same time. "No one can 'play' you Toushirou, it isn't possible." He tried clearing his throat. "The only two who can succeed are Momo and Rangiku-san."

Toushirou did not like being 'out of the loop' when it came to most things when he did not understand them, and right now it seemed to be more of a 'inside joke' when it came down to it. He knew that, once Ichigo had looked him straight in the eyes, he could understand his discomfort in not knowing what it had meant without asking. His attention was stolen from the delicious watermelon as Ichigo explained what it meant to be 'played' by someone in several manners; one jokingly, one fooling, and one romance. The captain pretended that he understood everything with his captain façade even though the host knew the expression already—he was thankful that the host would not mention this aloud.

It was bad enough that he knew at all…

"That really is a shame though," Ichigo took a bite out of the beef while the other looked at him. "It seems like the only time I can get a reaction out of you is when I call you by your name." He saw the captain give a slight hurt flinch without Toushirou realizing it himself. "I'm not saying your emotionless, because you're not." Trying to think about saying it properly, he gave it a go. "It's nice to see you be yourself, Toushirou."

"It's Hitsugaya-taichou," he bristled—just as he began to be engulfed by his words.

"Toushirou," the host saw him glared deadly. "Would I have to call you by that title if I were a taichou?"  
Glares turned to nothing but confusion, too surprised when hear him say this. "Why would you ask that?"  
"No reason in particular." He smiled casually, then glanced to the side. "Renji returned to the area…"  
"Abarai has never had an issue with me before, why now?" Toushirou asked. "Why is he _jealous_?"

"He has issues with you because he's jealous of you staying here when I won't let him." Ichigo wiped his face before standing up. "Don't take it personal, I have been neglecting him for a reason—to protect him from getting into trouble with the worst type of people." He took his plates and cleaned them in the sink.

"Is that all you do now, protect everyone?"

This allowed him to chuckle, "ever since I was little, I protected my sisters. Then ever since I became a Shinigami, I began to protect everyone that I can, yourself included." He returned to sitting at the table.  
"You are still a very noble creature, Kurosaki." Toushirou admitted with pride. "Many admire you for it."  
"When I began taking classes to become a med-student, I wondered 'why bother,' you know? People who are alive will die anyway, and most would go to a place far grander with fewer responsibilities to own…"

Turquoise watched in amazement as the man continued to portray his opinion of life and death in a depth view, making him realizing that this was no longer the childish Kurosaki Ichigo. That he was a man who saved many souls a week would now save many lives _and_ souls during one day; how could anyone be compared to this man? Toushirou snapped out of his trance when feeling the redheaded lieutenant near the penthouse, possibly stalking somewhere outside for whatever reason, and Ichigo sighed.

"Toushirou," Ichigo called for the third time, bringing the other out of his thoughts. "With your permission, I would like to give you a drug, it will only make you fall sleep quicker, and allow you to withstand noises."  
He knew that most 'drugs' were bad for anyone, but some were necessary for patients; this much he had known about. "Why would you need to have me fall asleep with a drug, I may retire after I finish eating."  
"For one thing, you need the good rest." As if that was a just cause. "Secondly, Renji will be entering at his own leisure in about an hour, I would be unhappy if you heard our arguing as you did earlier."  
The captain could not deny a good night's sleep, and he had finished his meal a second ago. "Fine," he then added quickly, "but if you dare attempt to do something to me while I'm asleep Kurosaki, I swear—"

"Toushirou," he smiled weakly, "I understand, I'll lock your door behind me when I leave the bedroom."

After Ichigo collected the dishes that Toushirou ate from, the latter went to take a bath that the other set up for him while the former washed all of the dishes before cleaning the table. The captain tried to grasp the feeling of this new sort of sensation; he noticed how much stress was removed after sinking in the water, it was just a shame that it was Ichigo's personal bathroom that he was in. He looked around, gazing at the entire room to see that everything was neat and organized—it was a little startling to see everything in place, but that was to be expected from a matured man… supposedly. Soft footstep roamed the bedroom outside the bathroom, causing the white-haired male to become a little cautious despite the see-through glass sliding doors of the bathtub to protect him. It took a second before the footsteps halted, until suddenly loud crashes were heard; fragile things breaking, furniture being tossed and hit against.

"Kurosaki?" Toushirou did not know if this was a joke or not, but he was not laughing.  
"Stay in there!" The host replied before something growled viscously at him. "Get off!"  
Something hit against the wall harshly, and a foreign voice spoke. "I will finally kill you."  
"Here kitty, kitty." Ichigo's voice sounded teasing, and suddenly there was a loud hiss.  
"What about the small one in there." It growled lowly. "Perhaps I should go after it too."

"You wouldn't dare, you would be going against my orders. No one is to know that you are alive, is that understood?" Toushirou could hear the serious tone in Ichigo's voice. "Now that you have decided to threaten another, it is time for you to leave. I will _summon_ you when or if needed. For now, do your task." The foreign voice growled darkly. "N-No… wait just a second—don't you dare j—oof!" There was a loud thud. "Get off me you idiot, do you have any idea how much you weigh now? Go on, get out of here!" It was amazing how he could be heard chuckling while shoving heavy weight off himself, and then silence.

A moment later, there was a knock on the bathroom door. "Toushirou, can I come in to get medicine?"  
_'Damn him.' _Well… there were some bubbles in the bath, so he would not be seen. "Make it quick then."  
"Thank you," the host came in and began digging in the medicine cabinet with his upper body bloody.  
Toushirou saw his shredded blood-stained shirt and body. "What the Hell attacked you in there?"  
"I can't tell you that—not because I don't want to, but because you could get in trouble for knowing."

He watched Ichigo peel off his ripped shirt and placed it in the trash before rummaging through the sink cabinet for something. "What are you looking for?" Suddenly, Ichigo brought out a box and flipped the lid to reveal small bottles and canisters, then brought out a needle. "W-What are you going to do with that?"  
"This will make you a heavy sleeper tonight, you will pass out in a few seconds." Ichigo replied in a scary professional manner. "I just need to get things prepared for when you're ready, as for me however…" He brought out a second box, withdrew dark red liquid from the bottle, and cleaned his arm before injecting.  
Toushirou saw the pain on the face of the other, but watched as all of his wounds healed instantly. "Is that the infamous instant regeneration I've heard about." It seemed that he forgot he was taking a bath…  
"Not quite, I usually have to be in some sort of Hollow form for that. If I inject my Hollow's blood directly in my veins, I can heal just as fast." He placed the two boxes away. "But it doesn't heal my torn shirt."

"Do I really have an _Inner Hollow_, Kurosaki?"

Ichigo could hear the silent fear in the question, and so he tried to think about it. "You're body is still trying to mature, and your emotions are kept bottled up inside, the powers of your inner Hollow can help you become even stronger than Jii-san himself." He began to brush his teeth quickly so he could get out of the bathroom. "It will kill you if you don't subdue it. That's why I hope you'll let me take you somewhere."

White thin brows knitted confusedly. "Where?"

He slowly stopped brushing his teeth, staring at himself in the mirror. "Hueco Mundo… it's the safest place where you can obtain your powers without others getting hurt. However…" he spat in the sink after turning the faucet on, and then cleaned up. "I can't guarantee that you would be ready for that just yet."

His words were not taken lightly as he knew he should not, it lead him to keep it in mind once Ichigo left the bathroom for him to finish washing up. A few minutes later after being cleaned, he did all the things he needed to do before standing on a mat to dry himself off with a huge towel. He paused at a thought that lead him to look at the towel to confirm it—this was _Kurosaki Ichigo's_ personal towel that he used. Some sort of apology can be said later as he dried off and placed on a plain white robe to sleep in as he came out. Toushirou was amazed at how thrashed the room was right now, but Ichigo was fixing things the best he could until noticing the squeaky-clean male. Once telling him that he would be done in a moment, he had him go to his room to get in bed so that he could come in and inject him with the drug. The captain was cautious about the entire situation, but obeyed due to earlier events, and waited in bed for the man.

Who came in six minutes later, "Pick an arm." The guest offered his left arm to value his right, and Ichigo sat on his left side to clean the spot he would inject it in. "I appreciate your cooperation, thank you."  
"If you appreciate it, perhaps you can start calling me by my title, nh…" the needle pierced his skin.  
"Not likely, it's nice to know that you have friends that could care less about your title, isn't that right, Shirou-chan?" He then injected the liquid since he tapped the syringe before coming in. "Goodnight."

"Don't you dare… call me… that… Kuro…" Toushirou's eyes closed, and he was fast asleep.

* * *

**IMPORTANT:** Okay, so you can't really expect me to update any time soon. I am moving in 20 days, 1300 miles (2093 kilometers) away from where I'm currently living. It'll be a while for me to get back on my game!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 03**

**Hearing Voices**

**Now—**

His chest rose with a deep breath while his arms shifted around to gather what warmth from himself he could get as his mind encouraged him to sleep a little longer. That drug his host gave him had really done a good job, he had not slept like this in a long time that he believed it would never have been possible. He slowly rose into a sitting position before rubbing his eyes to look around; everything was in place, nothing looked disturbed in anyway. As least the Strawberry kept his word and probably locked the door, now to find out if the rest of the residence was in turmoil because of the fight. Toushirou got out of bed and went to the door until freezing—he heard quiet voices outside the room, what were they whispering about?

Of course, the captain listened in.

"Every time you do this, you risk Byakuya finding out the truth, and I am just as guilty as you are." Ichigo, as usual—or so it seems, sounded well collected. "Do you have any idea how much this damages his trust?"  
"I can't help it, I got so angry with Hitsugaya-taichou here that… I wanted to make sure you wouldn't try to forget… things…" The lieutenant's voice sounded shaken and very guilty about something. "It isn't fair—"  
"Toushirou's needs are far greater than yours are. You can't be selfish when I'm in this type of situation." It sounded as if they were still straightening things out, but he sighed. "I'm not going to lie to Byakuya."  
"Y-You're not going to tell him are you?!" Panic wreaked the redhead's voice. "Don't you dare! If you do, he might abandon me and send me off to some other squad that doesn't even need me, I'd lose my seat!"

"If your precious seat is all that matters to you, then I _will_ tell him." His voice became heavier, it made Toushirou shiver when already knowing what kind of face he had on now. "However, as far as my ethics go, I will not tell him until he asks me. Even then, there is still the fact that you shoved liquor down my throat." It sounded like Renji was about to correct him, but the other continued. "Also, don't bother lying, I have video cameras in almost every room, each one recording whatever is in the designated room."

Toushirou stiffened at this, slowly turned to look around, and there a camera was in a corner of the room.

_'You are so dead.'_

"Now then, Toushirou will probably wake up anytime soon. Please leave the way that you came in."

It sounded as if Abarai Renji took the man's threat seriously by storming away and slamming the front door that lead to the hallway. He jolted with a shudder as Kurosaki Ichigo's voice called his name in a not so pleasant tone, stating that he knew the guest was awake, and sneaking. Now was not the time to feel guilty for listening to their private conversation; he took in a deep breath before leaving the bedroom. His entire being motioned his fury about there being a camera watching him during his two-day stay, but froze when the man stood in front of him. All of his forced anger turned to shock when seeing the shuffled man; ridiculously out of place hair, scratches and marks over his chest and face, his chocolate hues exhausted. The captain felt a gentle hand guide him away from the room and covered his eyes before hearing a large object shift before entering, and he saw twenty small televisions once Toushirou could see.

"Look at each one, alright?" Ichigo guided him to a comfortable rolling chair. "Do you see your room?"

Hearing this, Toushirou looked around instantly through the screens as the other left the room for an unknown reason as usual, and then he saw two screens off—one then came on. This one showed his room as Ichigo stood in front of it, waving at the camera for the guest to understand that the camera had been turned off. It allowed him to feel more comfortable to know that Ichigo was not trying to invade his privacy, but now he really _did_ feel guilty for his assumptions. Soon enough, Ichigo turned off the camera and returned to the little security room where Toushirou still looked at the television screens.

"Toushirou, look at me." The host sounded a little sad and determined, so said Shinigami turned to look at him, watching as he sat in a chair next to him. "I know that Aizen and his group had terribly betrayed you, and many others. I can understand to a certain degree as to how your mind works after everything that we dealt with together." Toushirou looked away with his body tense.

"Toushirou, look at me." Slowly, the smaller male began to look at him again. "Yes, you are a taichou, but you're not made of stone… or ice for that matter. You took a big chance in trusting me last night when giving you that drug, and for that, I am grateful." The little one did not like how this was sounding, it was making him uncomfortable, causing him to look away nervously to avoid being confronted by this.

"Toushirou, look at me." Once again, he looked at him slowly, this time showing how uncomfortable he was about this. "I know as well as anyone else that I can't force you to accept me, or to trust me. So I hope you can place the past behind you, and give me a chance to prove that I'm not going to hurt you." Ichigo sounded so sincere that it hurt. "If you would like me to back off and leave you alone, tell me to do so."

The captain searched soft chocolate hues, trying to figure out if he would be betrayed again or not; the last few that he made friends had tried to kill him and his best friend. It was true that he had given them the benefit of the doubt, they were his seniors that had helped him become the captain that he was, but he learned the hard way. Toushirou could tell him to back off right here and now, if he did, then this entire situation could vanish right before his eyes and not have to look back on it. However, knowing this man for ten years, after fighting alongside him, after being treated by him, he should give him some credit.

"I had said I was sorry the other day, hadn't I?" He spoke with a bristled tone. "You told me not to say I was sorry unless it was to a friend." The other smiled softly, taking him aback. "I said nothing funny."  
"N-No, don't take it the wrong way, I'm happy." Ichigo stood up with a bit of pain. "By the way, your hair," he watched as the guest looked and touched it, it was flimsy. "It's a really nice look on you, I mean it."  
"Don't suck up to me Kurosaki," the captain got up and followed him out, but did not look back to see where the location was because he understood it was to remain a secret. "I—" his stomach growled.  
"Want breakfast?" He tried not to smile at the red tints on the other's face. "I could fix breakfast for us, or we could go downstairs to get something made for us. Then again, we could order from here too."

Toushirou thought about it, but came with a lame answer. "Whatever you think is best."

"Alright, let's go downstairs to eat so the food will be warm," his cell phone rang in his pocket, glanced at the captain, then at the phone again. "How about you get dressed as I take this call? It shouldn't be long."

Hearing this, he stormed to the bedroom, completely forgetting he was in a robe that barely covered his thighs. "T-Take your time." He managed to reply before shutting the door harshly, but listened to him.  
"If this isn't an emergency, I won't allow you to talk to Toushirou." The Strawberry's voice became stern all over again, but sighed to relieve it. "He's doing fine, we haven't attacked each other yet… well, maybe."  
_'Who is he talking to?'_ Toushirou quickly dressed himself into proper clothes before coming out of the guest bedroom—only to see Ichigo buttoning on a shirt while on the phone. _'Probably Abarai…'_

"Fine then, I'll take the shipment. Take Renji's spare key and place it in the spare room down the hallway. By the way," Ichigo began smoothly glancing towards the curiously little captain as he placed the phone on speaker, "if you dare place _those_ videos with it, I'm sure Toushirou will attempt to kill you for doing it."

_"Oh come on Ichigo, Hitsugaya-taichou needs to learn how to be a man! I'll just slip a few pornography films in with the delivery!"_ It was Matsumoto Rangiku's voice, infuriating the captain. _"You know he's never once masturbated after all these years—do you know how sad that is?! He needs a man or woman in—"_

"MATSUMOTO!" Toushirou barked furiously, his face red with both anger and embarrassment.

_"W-Wait, you put me on speaker?! Ichigo! How could you do that to me!"_ She began to sob.  
Ichigo shrugged. "What are you talking about? It's just that he's right next to me and can hear you."  
_"Why didn't you tell me that before?! I—"_ The woman paused. _"You two are __**that**__ close to each other?!"_  
"Don't get your hopes up, Rangiku-san." He removed it from speaker. "I'm not going to do _it_ to him."

After a split second, the phone call was finished, and he looked at the phone before putting it away.

"Do _what_ to me?"Toushirou eyed him suspiciously.  
"She wants you to hook up with someone." He replied casually.  
_'Matsumoto…'_ His attention lightened. "I appreciate your help in the matter."  
"Hey, what are friends for?" The carrot top smiled as he walked to the doorway. "Let's go."

Despite the small captain not realizing his own smiling in return while the other did, he followed him out.

* * *

"Get out of my liquor cabinets you thieves." Ichigo called from behind the three snooping around his kitchen. They all flinched to his voice and turned to him. "Now then, what would be a good punishment?"  
"Having them work for the Fourth Squad seems appropriate." Toushirou was also repulsed by the mess that they made everywhere. "That is, after they clean up the damage that they have made here."  
"We were going to clean up while you two were away, but they really wanted some liquor and wouldn't listen to me!" Hinamori Momo explained when coming from the hallway. "We'll clean it up really fast!"  
"Y-Yeah," Madarame Ikkaku agreed after finishing the bottle. "D-Don't go kicking our ass, we're on it!"  
"Don't start without me Ikkaku!" Ayasegawa Yumichika fled to pick up things from the floor instantly.  
"Nuh-uh! You… you may got things on 'em, but not me!" Matsumoto Rangiku stated with a bottle in hand.  
"Oh… is that so, Matsumoto-fukutaichou?" Ichigo asked in an icy tone, everyone shivered at this, even the icy captain himself. "Ikkaku, Yumichika, remove her from my table if you will and place her in a room."  
The two stopped everything that they were doing to obey the man, stunning Toushirou who now looked at the carrot top. _'Since when did anyone responded to him this quickly?'_ Momo came to them—to Ichigo.

"How are you doing?" The host smiled at the young woman.  
Momo smiled in return. "Much better thanks to everything you've done."  
"Dummy," be softly bonked her head. "What have I told you about that, huh?"  
"O-Oops! Sorry!" She laughed and scurried away. "I'll clean up the mess they made!"

As she hurried to clean up the mess that the others had made, Ichigo came over to whisper something softly into her ear, causing her to frown softly. Toushirou was not happy to see this—to see her upset in any way, but he watched as he kissed the top of her head before walking down the hallway to talk with the busty lieutenant. The two males hurried back to the living room to help clean up the room so that the fragile lieutenant would not have to do everything by herself. Rangiku was then her giving a high pitch scream that made the others jump in surprise, but watched Ichigo return with the woman begging him.

"Please Ichigo, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to snoop around to look for liquor, it's just a habit!" She lunged at him, clinging to his waist as he continued to walk. "I'll help clean up the place so we can hurry to leave!"  
"And…?" The man coaxed her to continue upon what needed to be done.  
"T-Then I'll do the paperwork once we go back to Soul Society! Please Ichigo! I'm begging you!" He then stopped in place, obviously receiving mercy. "Thank you so much Ichigo, I won't let you down this time!"  
"I have a report to make, be quiet." He turned back. "Toushirou, come with me."

Toushirou became cautious now; all four of them were obedient, but why… and how—how did Kurosaki Ichigo manage to manipulate them? They entered the room where the oversized screen was put in place to communicate with those that were in Soul Society, and the screen flickered. It revealed the one person that was mysterious to everyone, the Commanding-General's right hand man, Sasakibe Choujirou…who was looking through papers—

"Choujirou!" Ichigo barked, and the papers went flying out of the man's hands. "Please get Jii-san."  
_"R-Right away sir,"_ the poor man fled the scene as fast as he could to fetch the old man.  
"Toushirou," he called, "take a few steps behind me, and don't speak to him."  
"Just because everyone is obeying does not mean—" Toushirou froze.

There was a look in Ichigo's eyes, it was not pleasant.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, it has only been two days since Hitsugaya-taichou's departure, have you made any sort of progress?" The elder asking though knowing it was probably true. "Or are you forfeiting participation?"  
"His progress is going well for the moment, he is now aware of his inner Hollow after showing him through a technique." Ichigo replied sharply. "If he would like to control this power, I will teach him when ready."  
This made him glance to the little captain, and then back to the carrot top. "You are risking much to keep war at bay, Kurosaki Ichigo. Still, I will keep our end of the deal, however, have you thought of our—"

Toushirou watched the back of Ichigo's head as the man hissed at him, baring fangs in some manner.

"I see," Shigekuni opened his eyes. "You would do well to keep yourself in check."  
He glared at him firmly, though smirking. "Is that a _threat_ I'm hearing from you, _Jii-san_?"  
"Of course not, never would I need to threaten you." His eyes closed to stay out of trouble.

"Though it seems you are in need of being reminded who's in charge around here." Ichigo had nearly forgotten about Toushirou. "I suppose you would like to speak with your pet, excuse me." He left easily.

"Hitsugaya-taichou," the elder called, and Toushirou looked at him. "If he betrays Soul Society, kill him."

* * *

"Where is Kurosaki Ichigo?"

The four glanced at the semi-upset captain before looking at one another; if he did not know where he went after dealing with the Commanding-General, it was not their place to tell him. Fortunately, it only took the captain a few seconds to realize this, so he began to check the rooms in search for him in order to fume and vent. However, it was unfortunate that the voice was becoming loud and clear in his head—meaning that the man was most likely nowhere nearby to protect his sanity.

_"What are you so worried about, Coward? Worried King will abandon you?"_ The voice teased happily now that it had room to breathe. _"Let him venture off in Hueco Mundo, maybe he will start a war after all—"_

There was a knock at the door with a feminine voice calling for Ichigo, and Toushirou watched the four scatter like bugs while Ichigo came from his… his bedroom?! That made no sense—a garganta then appeared to reveal the real Ichigo who then jumped into his body and opened the door for his guest. Just looking at this person though, Toushirou could not figure out whether this was a man or woman, and this was what scared him the most at this point.

"Mitsu, you know not to disturb me while I'm home." Ichigo frowned unhappily to his new arrival.  
_'Is this a man or a woman?!'_ Toushirou battled in his mind though remained stoic on the outside.  
Little did he know, it was a woman with the looks of a man, and she hugged Ichigo. "Mitsu missed you!"  
"I haven't been to the hospital in two days, that equals to the amount of hours on a weekend." The host was not too thrilled to be jumped. "Stop trying to touch me in inappropriate places, I have other guests."  
Mitsu tilted her head, seeing the white-haired boy and squealed. "Oh, you must be Shirou-chan right?!"  
"Mitsu," Ichigo warned as Toushirou tensed angrily. "What have I told you about meeting my guests?"  
"Oh sorry, but he looks a lot cuter than you pictured him!" She then squished the captain in her arms.

_'…Kurosaki…'_ Toushirou mentally tried to kill him, and this… creature all over him.

"Mitsu," he called curiously, a tint of hurt in his tone. "You're jumping on males other than myself? If I had known my position would be replaced so easily, I would have done otherwise to change the scenery."  
Rangiku came rushing out, clinging to his arm. "Don't do that Ichigo, it looks so cute! I'll be caught dead if I take a picture of him, so let me watch this a little longer." She nuzzled him in case he felt neglected.  
Momo came over and did the same thing on the other side of him. "Shirou-chan doesn't let anyone hug him, this is his first time trying to put up with it!" Her arms squeezed his own to have him stay in place.  
"You're going to make him angry, having multiple women on him and all." Ikkaku then looked away with annoyance as he muttered to Yumichika loud but quietly. "Though the only one who isn't is Matsumoto."

"GET OFF KUROSAKI-SENSEI YOU HUSSY!" Mitsu had released the little captain to point at Rangiku accusingly who stared in bewilderment at her. Then she pointed at Momo, "AND YOU! YOU LITTLE W—"

"That, is enough." Ichigo interrupted in a severe warning tone before all female began showing their claws to one another. "Most of you know my policies when present here, does anyone want to abide by them?" Just then, everyone fled to the couches, Ikkaku and Yumichika on one couch, Momo and Rangiku on the other. Mitsu sat on a chair at the side between them, Ichigo rubbed his face to gain his patience, and Toushirou looked at everyone confusedly until targeted.

"Toushirou, how about you go to your room, huh?" The host tried to manage keeping everything in check with everyone. "Or, if you would like to join us, you can take a seat to join us." It took a few seconds, but the little captain decided that he was going to participate. "Now then, Toushirou is here for temporary stay as a guest. These four are colleagues from high school that came to make sure that things were alright." Everyone watched Ichigo somewhat stalking the group, mainly because Toushirou took his chair to sit on. "So what business do you have here, Mitsu, without calling ahead of time? You know I get irritated by it."

"Mitsu knows that, Mitsu was really worried that you weren't taking care of yourself since Abarai-kun had come by to the hospital saying that you were not doing well and—" Mitsu was interrupted by her boss.  
"Renji?" All attention went to him as he looked at her dangerously. "Renji… contacted you? When?"  
"T-This morning, he came by when Mitsu's shift started, telling Mitsu that you looked like Hell—and you do! You have bags under your eyes!" She tried to seem innocent. "Y-You need to sleep Kurosaki-sensei."

"I slept enough in confinement." Ichigo muttered to himself, but the Shinigami heard him. "I'll deal with him myself, but again, what are you doing here unannounced?" Everyone saw that he was getting angry.  
Ikkaku leaned towards Toushirou, whispering. "Did soutaichou get him upset in the other room?"  
"They were not sipping tea," the captain replied just as quietly while watching everything.  
Yumichika heard him say this, so he stood up slowly. "Ichigo, maybe you should relax—"  
"Sit," the carrot top demanded, becoming more aggressive. "Rangiku-san, Toushirou, please go to the kitchen. Momo, you know what to do." Rangiku ripped Toushirou's arm off to flee the room. "Goodnight."

Momo came around behind Mitsu, who was asking. "What do you mean—" she was then unconscious.

"Ikkaku, Yumichika, get this one out of my sight and come back afterwards." Ichigo seemed to calm down a little bit as the two obeyed, and Momo excused herself to go to the bathroom. Allowing him time to go to the kitchen—overhearing the two talking about him almost instantly. _'Something bad, obviously.'_

"What is wrong with Kurosaki, ever since he spoke with Yamamoto-soutaichou, he's seemed quite aggressive. Then there was something about a war, and how Kurosaki believes he's the one in charge." Toushirou crossed his arms as he tried to think of the situation a bit before telling her a little bit more now. "To make things worse, the old codger wants me to keep an eye on Kurosaki, and to kill him if he even hints that he is going to betray Soul Society. However, I'm aware of the conflict that it would create…"

Rangiku saw Ichigo watching them, so she tried to have things clarified. "B-But you trust him, right?"  
"I trust him as far as I can throw him." He replied bitterly. "I never really liked that imbecile anyway."  
"But you two were getting along from what I understand!" She wanted to cry. "Was that all a lie?!"  
"Mostly, there is no way in any world that I would be able to suck up to that idiotic fool in there."  
"If you trusted him, he would be more open with you." the woman could not think of anything else.  
"Which brings me to my next question, why—" Toushirou was interrupted by a voice behind him.

"You… don't like Kurosaki-kun?" It was Momo, clinging to the male carrot top's sleeve. "Shirou-chan…"

The captain had turned to look at Momo when she interrupted him, but froze when he saw Kurosaki Ichigo standing there with a slight hurt expression on his face. He could not sense the man behind him because his reiatsu had been flooding the penthouse nonstop, and now he felt completely guilty for the words that he said. In truth, Toushirou did not mean to be so cruel with his words, but he did not like his privacy being invaded all of the time by his busty lieutenant. Ichigo looked to Momo as he quietly asked her to release him so he could excuse himself, and he casually went to his room for whatever reason. The carrot top was probably going to take a nap, but before Toushirou could even think about what his problem was, Momo had came over and slapped him in the face.

"How can you be so cruel to Kurosaki-kun after everything he's done for us?!" She tried her best not to cry, but failed, and ran away before Toushirou could speak. "I hate you! I never want to see you again!"  
"Why is everyone on Kurosaki's side?" The captain asked his subordinate, but when she did not reply, he looked at her—only to also be slapped in the face against the opposite cheek. "What was that for?!"  
"Ichigo took you in to let you harness that Hollow power, and you're treating him like dirt?! He was almost killed, nearly three times, to protect you!" Rangiku also hurtfully cried as she followed Momo to the room.

Not just _any_ room, Kurosaki Ichigo's room.

Toushirou growled in frustration towards the predicament he was in, so he returned to the other room and sat down to think things through. He had not meant for Ichigo to hear him say all of those things, but he was too proud to try apologizing to some man who was an idiot. The captain did it again, calling him names that were not necessary—it was like a defense mechanism that would shield him automatically.

Ikkaku and Yumichika walked into the penthouse. "Ichigo, we're—" He looked around. "Where is he?"  
"Madarame, why are you four being so obedient towards him?" Toushirou eyed him suspiciously.  
The two looked at one another, and the latter spoke. "Think of it as a game, Hitsugaya-taichou."  
"It doesn't matter what you say Yumichika." Ikkaku retorted. "He'll never trust Ichigo with his life."  
"Yes, but it's a shame because only Ichigo can tell others the truth." Yumichika frowned. "Where is he?"

"In his bedroom with Hinamori and Matsumoto." Toushirou watched as the two looked at one another. "It seems I said some choice words that he overheard, and surprisingly became upset by them somehow."  
This made the pretty boy frown. "I know Ichigo won't be happy, but we should clear things up a little."  
"Ichigo said not to interfere with those who don't trust him." Ikkaku warned softly. "It's his choice."  
Ignoring the warning, the former spoke. "Soutaichou has been making him stress out because Ichigo is still very much a threat to Soul Society. If everyone behaves, no one gets hurt." He smiled happily now.

"With Ichigo having to use his reiatsu to keep your Hollow in control, it drains his body ten times faster. So without proper eating or sleeping routine to keep you safe, he'll remain cranky, which makes it danger—"

A garganta opened, and a big kitty appeared, growling at the delicious meal.


End file.
